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China's space programme

China's space programme
The China National Space Administration was founded more than 25 years ago and is overseeing an ambitious programme which includes deep space exploration, a manned space station, and cutting-edge advancements in technology, new materials, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Illustration: Craig Stephens
Space

Opinion | As China opens up its space sector, Hong Kong should reach for the stars

With deep capital markets and globally aligned legal practices, the city can support a competitive Chinese space programme that shapes global standards.

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US-China relations

Can Musk’s Starship upend the strategic order? A Chinese think tank warns it may

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Mainland China

The Chinese satellites SpaceX says were on collision course with Starlink

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Science

China found something strange on far side of moon no one had seen in nature

The Chang’e-6 lunar probe found tiny tubes formed by a single layer of atoms – something that has previously been seen only in a lab.

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The Chang’e-6 lunar lander collected the samples from the far side of the moon. Photo: CNSA
Space

China’s commercial space sector soars with 50 launches in 2025

Commercial launches accounted for 54 per cent of the total last year, data from China National Space Administration shows.

Science

First contact: in quest for moon water, Chinese team flags risk in touching ice

Scientists warn water on the moon is locked in frozen soil, not exposed to air and held in place only by cold and vacuum.

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Science

China suffers unprecedented double rocket launch failures in a single day

Saturday’s twin failures involved a state-owned rocket and a private one, but observers attribute them to industry’s growing pains.

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Saturday’s Long March-3B failure was the first in more than five years. Photo: Xinhua
Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong eyes slice of booming ‘NewSpace’ economy as professional services hub

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit reveals that it recently hosted a high-level round table on the space economy.

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Science

Could China’s Yaogan-47 satellite have a lens as wide as the Hubble Telescope?

Chinese satellite will be used for national land surveys, urban planning, environmental management and comprehensive disaster prevention.

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Science

Chinese risk study finds space solar power stations could zap satellites

Beijing team finds that potential electrical discharges, though brief, could induce abnormal currents in spacecraft systems.

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Chinese researchers studying the risk of lasers in space say their findings will help guide safer parameters and the design of protective measures. Photo: Shutterstock Images
China's military weapons

Chinese state media repositions sci-fi space, air combat aircraft as tech target

Military analyst on CCTV says frontier technologies reflect ‘expectations for future aerospace and space superiority’.

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A CCTV report on January 9 quotes an expert who says concept “space-sky integrated” fighter jets in China’s sci-fi Nantianmen Project will eventually become reality. Photo: CCTV
Science

China applies to put up 200,000 satellites after calling Starlink a crash risk

US Federal Communications Commission says it approved SpaceX to launch 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites.

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Science

Why Chinese space station is studying how gravity affects battery performance

Project is led by the country’s second civilian astronaut working with researchers on the ground to look at ways to improve performance.

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Science

SpaceX will move 4,400 satellites to a lower orbit after China cited safety risk

Starlink’s Michael Nicolls declares ‘significant reconfiguration’ to be coordinated with regulators, other operators and US Space Command.

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Starlink says taking its satellites to a lower orbit this year will allow a more than 80 per cent cut to ballistic decay time. Photo: TNS
Science

China warns satellites from Elon Musk’s Starlink are ‘safety and security’ risk

Beijing tells UN meeting of near misses involving SpaceX satellites and warns they are being used by criminals and terrorists.

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SpaceX aims to build a constellation of more than 42,000 satellites when the Starlink network is complete. Photo: Reuters
China National Space Administration (CNSA)

Beijing extends Mars mission lead; stranded crew returns: China’s year in space

From the US-China race to bring rocks back from Mars to a ‘tit-for-tat’ orbital stand-off, here are some of the year’s most notable space stories.

Science

Second reusable rocket recovery failure in a month puts China 10 years behind US

Chinese state-owned and commercial developers are racing to catch up on a decade of the technology’s deployment.

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Donald Trump

Trump’s space plan envisages US moon base amid race with China

Trump calls for moon landing in 2028, lunar base thereafter, as China targets the end of the decade for its first crewed landing.

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The Artemis I Space Launch System and Orion spacecraft at Nasa’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in 2022. Photo: Nasa via AP
China Future Tech briefing

Aerospace | Lunar race pits China against US as humans seek return to moon

China and the US are vying to put people on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years in a contest that is as much about economics and geopolitics as it is about technology.

United States

Musk ally Isaacman confirmed as Nasa chief amid moon race with China

The US billionaire with a passion for space, was nominated by Trump for a second time after a previous bid fell through.

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Aerospace: Policy

China launches satellite ‘super factory’ in bid to rival Elon Musk’s Starlink

The facility features a ‘factory-to-launch’ pipeline, expected to make it faster and cheaper to build low Earth orbit constellations.

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China’s first comprehensive factory dedicated to the assembly, testing and reuse of carrier rockets, in south China’s coastal city of Wenchang. Photo: People’s Daily
US-China relations

Trump’s Nasa pick vows US will beat China back to the moon

Isaacman says Washington must move quickly to stay ahead of Beijing amid intensifying rivalry in space exploration.

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Jared Isaacman, US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead Nasa, during a hearing of the Senate commerce committee on Wednesday. Photo: AP
Open Questions series

Open Questions | Ex-PLA colonel on Taiwan, the Ukraine war, China-US ties

Zhou Bo ponders Japanese PM Takaichi’s recent remarks, lessons from the Ukraine conflict and why China won’t be world’s policeman.

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Aerospace: Industry Trends

Explainer | Why China’s space sector is grabbing attention – including from Elon Musk

Chinese start-up LandSpace is set to launch its first reusable rocket on Saturday. If it succeeds, it will give China’s space sector a major boost.

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Science

China’s first emergency space launch: vessel with repair kit reaches Tiangong

Shenzhou-22’s arrival at the Tiangong station will come as a relief for the crew after another return ship was damaged by space debris.

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A Long March-2F rocket carrying the uncrewed Shenzhou-22 spacecraft takes off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in China’s northwestern Gansu province on November 25. Photo: via Reuters
International Space Station (ISS)

Editorial | US and China should cooperate to make space safe for all

Space safety is one area where Chinese, Americans and everyone else can benefit from coordination and the sharing of information and costs.

Wang Jie, a Shenzhou-20 astronaut, returns to Earth on the Shenzhou-21 spaceship’s capsule after it touched down at the Dongfeng landing site in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on November 14. Photo: AP
Science

First Thai king to Beijing in 800 years greeted by Chinese astronauts in orbit

Thailand’s monarchs in exchange with orbiting crew on board Tiangong station during visit to highly restricted mission control centre in Beijing.

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Space

Stranded Chinese astronauts return home from space station mission

Astronauts return from Tiangong space station aboard new crew’s spacecraft after suspected debris strikes vessel and delays launch.

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